When people discuss D.C.’s nightlife back in the day, they usually only think as far back as the original 930 Club on F Street.  D.C. filmmaker Jeff Krulik is digging deeper.  Inspired by the late Emil Press‘ photos of Washington streetscapes, and by stories collected from area residents, Krulik has organized a panel discussion and presentation entitled “Eat, Drink, and Be Merry in 1950-‘60s DC” for this year’s “36th Annual Conference on Washington, D.C. Historical Studies.” (Opens tonight.)  The event runs through Saturday; Krulik’s program will take place Friday afternoon.

Local writer CV Garnett, longtime music fan Mike Baker, John Pagones (the Washington Post’s “On the Town” columnist from 1959 to 1965), and historian Don Press (the son of photographer Emil Press, will join Jeff, who will be showing some of Press’ slides.

“These are people who experienced the city’s cultural tapestry then,” Krulik says.

Baker will talk about the Howard Theater, Ebart’s Jazz Mecca, Bohemian Caverns and other r’n’b, rock, and jazz clubs in the city’s U Street  and Southeast neighborhoods.  Garnett will address Coffee ‘n’ Confusion, the D.C. beatnik hangout that opened in 1959. (Jim Morrison would frequent the place when he was growing up in Alexandria.)  Garnett will also cover  Bassin’s at 14th and Pennsylvania Avenue, known for its outdoor cafe and honky tonk piano sounds; the Rocket Room, an early rock club at 12th Street and New York Avenue near the old Greyhound Bus Station;  Charlie Byrd’s Showboat Lounge on 18th Street; and the Blue Mirror, a music club on 14th Street that later became a strip bar.

Don Press will talk about his father, and he and Krulik will discuss some of the 4,000 slides that the late Emil Press donated to the Historical Society.

Friday, November 13 from 1:45-3:15 pm : 2009 DC Historical Studies Conference Panel Discussion: “Eat, Drink, and Be Merry in 1950-60s DC ” at the Charles Sumner School Museum and Archives, 1201 17th Street, NW   Registration at the Door: $15; students and seniors, $10. Space is limited.

In 2008, Ani DiFranco and a number of traditional folk singers came together to record a benefit album for labor organizer, soldier, hobo, pacifist, storyteller, and singer Bruce “Utah” Phillips.  Phillips, “the Golden Voice of the Great Southwest,” was in poor health and did not live to hear the double CD set, “Singing through the Hard Times: a Tribute to Utah Phillips.” Now in 2009, a number of the musicians who played on that effort will be appearing Friday night at the Washington Ethical Society to salute Phillips via a benefit for Hospitality House, a California homeless shelter that Phillips established. Copies of the CD will also be sold at the show to assist Phillips’ family with remaining expenses.

Ani DiFranco will not be there, but Kensington, Maryland-raised singer/banjoist Dan Schatz, who helped put together the tribute album, will.  He’ll be joined by the likes of Elizabeth LaPrelle, who is best known for her high, lonesome old timey a capella vocals;  Magpie, a folk duo who sang civil rights songs; and Ed Trickett, a hammered-dulcimer player.

Also appearing will be acoustic guitarist and singer Saul Broudy who played harmonica with Utah Phillips in the early ’70s, and Utah’s sons, Brendan and Duncan Phillips.  There is a good chance someone will offer Phillips-style renditions of songs he was identified with, like “The Green Rolling Hills of West Virginia,” “Starlight on the Rails,” and “Hallelujah, I’m a Bum.”

Tribute to Utah Phillips concert Friday October 30, 2009 at 8 p.m. at the Washington Ethical Society, 7750 16th Street, NW $20 www.fsgw.org 202-546-2228

On October 17 and 18, dance instructors and promoters Michael Hart and Sharon Schiliro presented the 1st annual “Dancing by the Bayou” festival at Glen Echo.  The event hosted a number of Louisiana and D.C. zydeco and Cajun bands for people to dance to throughout that weekend.  The roster included Nathan & the Zydeco Cha-chas, Jesse Lege & Bayou Brew, and Leroy Thomas and the Zydeco Roadrunners among many others.

Hart and Schiliro, who will be presenting a dance at Glen Echo on Sunday, November 8 with the Acadien Cajun Band, talked to me recently via e-mail about their festival and the state of zydeco and Cajun music in the Capital region.  They combined most of their responses.

City Paper: Do you think the recent festival will translate into increased enthusiasm for upcoming events, and/or will it be like that Buffalo Gap event—an annual thing that folks look forward to once a year?

Hart and Schiliro: I do think we may get a lift in attendance at the upcoming November/December dances, but weather, football games, etc. can always cut into the attendance; we shall see!  We do have an outstanding Zydeco band for our Mardi Gras dance in February to be announced shortly!  The Mardi Gras dance, in the last two years, has had great attendance for a week night!

CP: Were you happy with your first festival?  Any fave performers or dancers or stories you would like to mention?

H & S: Yes, we are very proud of what we achieved for our first Cajun and Zydeco music and dance festival at Glen Echo Park.  While Mother Nature’s attire for the weekend did not include sunshine, we had dancers attend the festival from Richmond, Virginia, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Philadelphia, Rhode Island, to name a few locales outside the beltway.  You could feel and see the joy in the dancer’s faces. For many, it was their first time to Glen Echo Park.

We did have a magic musical moment during the Festival.  Cedric Watson came to the stage during the performance by the BeauSoleil Quartet [a special 4 member version of BeauSoleil] late Saturday night.  Dancers were dancing, but spun slowly to a stop as they all gathered around the stage.  The ballroom lights were dim, as Michael Doucet and Cedric created the most beautiful fiddle sounds one could hope to hear.  The dancers were mesmerized by the improvisational playing between Cedric and Michael.  Pure music magic!

Another wonderful story is of the mother and daughter who attended the Festival.  The daughter brought her 90-year-old mother, who used a two-handed walker, to the Festival to celebrate her 90th birthday.  BeauSoleil, upon learning that the mother was from Louisiana, broke out into a Cajun musical version of Happy Birthday.  The moment could not have been sweeter!

CP: How many people attended each individual session (Saturday day, Saturday night, Sunday day, etc.)

H & S: Over 300 people attended each day. We anticipated larger attendance, but the weather played a huge role in keeping folks away.  It was the coldest weather in 50 years for this time of the year!

CP: When did you begin preparing for the fest?

H &S: We began planning and preparing for the Festival a year in advance.

CP: Was it hard getting certain bands?  BeauSoleil, for example? Others?

H & S: Certain bands were challenging to book, due to their travel schedules.  Others were easy.  BeauSoleil Quartet was a blessing to book, since they were going to be in the area for a private event.

CP: Were you unable to get certain bands you wanted?

H & S: We contacted Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys and Geno Delafose.  While they wanted to perform at the Festival, both they and we could not build enough dates around the Festival to offset the travel.

CP: Were you trying via the festival to establish a name within the national and international zydeco and Cajun dancing and music world or were you trying to get new folks into zydeco?

H & S: Our goal was to present a major event for the Washington, DC metropolitan area. We travel to many Festivals during the year, outside our area.  To establish a Festival, strengthens the Cajun and Zydeco dance community and brings in excellent musicians and music. The Festival was a “thank you” to the entire dance community and the musicians, to say we support the community, the music and want the culture to thrive.

CP: Do you think you met your goal?

H & S: We met our goals, with the exception of the financial goal.  Again, Mother Nature did not put her best dance foot forward that weekend!

CP:  Did you lose money or break even or make money?

H & S: We did suffer a loss financially, but feel strongly it was due to the adverse weather.

CP: Do you know if that is that standard in the zydeco and Cajun world?

H & S: Yes, we have spoken to other promoters and a Festival normally takes several years to establish its identity and take hold in the community as a destination.

CP: The D.C.- area zydeco audience seems to be growing older.  Did a bar-like atmosphere that Twist & Shout had help bring in some young folks to zydeco who eventually liked it, who might not have embraced the genre if it was just heard at Glen Echo, where they feel they may not fit in if they’re not doing the right dance steps?  Any other thoughts on attracting a younger, newer audience?

H & S: While the Cajun/Zydeco community in the DC Metropolitan area is mature, we continue to attract new dancers.  Younger dancers do come from time-to-time and really enjoy the music. The bar atmosphere that was Twist & Shout, Tornado Alley and others, drew younger folks but not so much for the music, but to drink, stand and watch the bands.  Now go to the clubs in Louisiana, out in Lafayette, Lake Charles, and other areas outside New Orleans and it is filled with young, wonderful dancers. We continue to make the effort to draw young folks to the dances.  Dancing by the Bayou is on Facebook and other social networks. Glen Echo Park does draw young folks and we welcome any ideas that might help bring them in greater number to our dances.

CP:  Does the Glen Echo atmosphere (and its location far from Metro) dissuade newer folks from wanting to check out the genre?

H & S: Glen Echo Park is not easy to get to with public transportation.  However, it does have a presence in its own right for fun and good quality dances. We have had young folks come to the dances, only to get other dancers to drive them to the nearest metro (Bethesda) after a dance.

CP:   Do you have any ideas you want to try to reach newer folks—ads in local university newspapers, flyers, Facebook, ads in local media, etc.?  Would this require a bigger budget than you have?

H & S: Indeed, we want to reach new folks!  We always want to grow the community that supports Cajun and Zydeco music. We have a million great ideas, all of which takes money! We do as many of the “free” advertising opportunities as possible.  I hope to apply for a grant this year to help support this effort. We also teach at large events and have a web presence of our own on Facebook.  We are working on obtaining better local media coverage, but without the budget it is difficult.

CP:  Will you be doing this again next year?

H & S: We think we owe it to the dance community, the musicians and ourselves to try again next year.  The support of the community has been overwhelming!

Recorded before Sept. 11, 2001, Egypt features and the film depicts N’Dour praising the peaceful and positive values he gets from Sufi Islam and such Senegalese religious figures as Cheikh Ahmadou Bamba. To make the point that music and Islam don’t need to be at odds, he spurns his band’s typical instrumentation in favor of noted Egyptian arranger Fathy Salama’s 14 piece-orchestra.

While N’Dour expected to have to defend the album overseas, the film finds him rejected at home, where some felt Egypt’s mixture of Islam and pop culture was blasphemy.

The film features striking color-filled images of the annual religious pilgrimage Mourides, members of a Senegalese Sufi order, make to the country’s Touba mosque. There’s touching footage of N’Dour bonding with his ninetysomething grandmother, as well as clips of N’Dour onstage and backstage gorgeously wailing his odes of prayer in Wolof, French, and English around the world.

The movie ends on an up note as N’Dour’s first-ever Grammy for the album causes his compatriots to revise their take on Egypt and leads to the album’s re-release.

Youssou N’Dour: I Bring What I Love (2008), 102 min; through Thursday 10-15 at the Avalon Theater, 5612 Connecticut Ave. NW. (202) 966-6000

Richards was a DJ in Washington from 1963 to 1975, and he hosted several local TV shows.  According to the supplied bio, Richards, the “boss with the hot sauce,” was the only white DJ playing soul records on WUST in the ’60s and disco on WEAM in the late ’70s.  On his late Friday night TV program “Turn On,” which aired on on UHF Channel 20 from 1970 through 1971, he featured live performances from the likes of Alice Cooper, Humble Pie, and Labelle. 

Far from slick and professional, the TV show clips in the trailer include offbeat  interviews with wild men Little Richard and Ozzy Osbourne, and nicely capture the fashions of the eras via Richards himself  in mod, hippie, and gold-chain wearing disco wear.

The Barry Richards TV Collection shows tonight at 9:30 p.m. at the AFI Silver Theatre, 8633 Colesville Road, Silver Spring, Md., (301) 495-6720.

The Virgin Mobile Fest is not today’s only big event. The Reggae Summerfest is taking place in downtown DC today.  The lineup includes speedy dancehall reggae toasters Beenie Man and Capleton plus more rootsy, slower-tempoed performers such as Marcia Griffiths, Cocoa Tea, the Itals and I-Wayne.

 One of the most interesting acts on the bill is not a reggae artist. Mahmoud Ahmed is an age 60-something singer from Ethiopia, who has gained attention from non-Ethiopians since the 1990s thanks to his cuts on the widely heralded Ethiopiques compilations and director Jim Jarmusch’s usage of fellow Ethiopian Mulatu Astatke’s songs in the 2005 movie Broken Flowers.  Here is some 2006 and 2008 footage of Ahmed that shows he is still vital. 

Reggae Summerfest Sunday August 30 at 12 noon with Beenie Man, Capleton, Marcia Griffiths, Cocoa Tea, I-Wayne, Mahmoud Ahmed from Ethiopia, The Itals, Jovi Rockwell, Fire Star, Kunzo & Tonestar from Nigeria, Lionize, Image Band, The Iternals, S.T.O.R.M., and more at  City Center DC, 900 9th Street NW, Washington DC 
Information Line: 202-725-0331

Earlier this decade, reggae was getting a fair amount of  attention in the US and UK thanks to rap producers, rap/r’n’b stations, and alt-weekly critics giving love to dancehall.  While those audiences may not be paying that much attention now, Jamaican singers and rappers are still keeping as busy as ever.  Tarrus Riley  is in town tonight, Sunday, at the Crossroads, and next Sunday a number of roots and dancehall reggae performers will be in DC at the City Center (the old DC Convention Center parking lot).  Tarrus Riley, the son of vocalist Jimmy Riley, does not chat in a speedy dancehall style, but his beats and r’n’b friendly vocals are worthy of crossover attention (see this video).  He is a soulful crooner who mixes romantic (see this video also) and cultural concerns in his lyrics and yet retains Caribbean street cred.  His voice is impressive enough that it does not matter what he is warbling about, although the non-raunchy phrasing he uses may help him with some.  Regarding tonight’s gig, he once did not come onstage at the Crossroads until nearly 2 a.m., but the club is promising an early show this evening.

Tarrus Riley, sax player/producer Dean Fraser, singer Duane Stephenson at 7 Sunday August 23 at the Crossroads, 4103 Baltimore Ave., Bladensburg, MD (301) 927-1056

On Thursday August 6, longtime D.C. soul singer Eddie Daye passed away at age 78.  Back in 2002, I wrote a feature  piece on him for the Washington City Paper.  I had  heard that he had been ill recently and was in the hospital but  have not yet been able to get any other specifics on the cause of death, or his funeral, that is scheduled for Wednesday.  I had last seen Eddie in the audience at the Bluebird Blues and Soul Festival  at Prince Georges Community College last September.  As I will be out of town for most of the next two weeks beginning tomorrow, I am posting this now.

As detailed in my article, I first saw Eddie, who had been vocalizing in DC since the late 1940s and had his own record label, perform in the 1980s at the now defunct Gold Room  in Northeast DC.  Subsequently I saw Eddie and his late wife, Denise,  perform together numerous times at Gee’s 4400 Club, then located in Brentwood, Md., off of Rhode Island Avenue just near the DC line, and at Chuck & Billy’s Lounge on Georgia Avenue NW.  This dapper gentleman (usually in a suit although not in the photo from an outdoor show above) and his wife were always so friendly to everyone (and they always wanted to make sure that me and my friends, their youngest and uh palest fans, felt comfortable).  In more recent years Eddie’s song “Sexy Senior Citizen (I’m not a dirty old man, I’m just a)” got some airplay on WPFW’s Saturday programming, though some DC residents and a handful of British and European record collectors on Ebay know him best for his vocals with the Four Bars in the ‘50s and ‘60s.  While those online and crate-digging fans may cherish copies of his obscure singles (some of which have been reissued on cd), I will just keep my memories of those fun late nights out seeing him sing bluesy soul and my conversations with him about his musical career and his take on 50 plus years of r’n’b history.  While there were frequently  special guest vocalists joining he and his wife onstage in the ‘80s and ‘90s, this  pleasant guy with the deep voice was always the star of the show. 

* The photo is by Ron Weinstock of the In a Blue Mood blog (many of his photos are on Flickr).

In January Richie Unterberger  was at the Library of Congress discussing his book The Unreleased Beatles: Music and Film.  Now he is back, tonight, Monday August 3rd at the Library to talk about his new detail-packed, 368 page book, White Light/White Heat: The Velvet Underground Day by Day (I have not seen it yet).  According to his own website, Unterberger drew “on about 100 interviews [he conducted] and exhaustive research through documents and recordings rarely or never accessed…”  Unterberger is promising on his website that he will feature rare audiovisual material from throughout the Velvet Underground’s career at the Library of Congress presentation. 

Monday August 3rd at 7 P.M–writer Richie Unterberger at the Library of Congress, James Madison Bldg., Pickford Theater, 101 Independence Ave. SE. Call 202-707-7833 for details.  The Pickford has only 60 seats.

The Myspace site for the Surf Club (aka the Surf Club Live and previously Chick Hall’s Surf Club) now plays Bob Dylan’s “The Times They Are a Changin,” but perhaps it would make more sense to play something in Spanish.  Concerned about small turnouts for the blues-rock, country, and other roots styles he has been getting, owner James Byrum has decided to reach out to the current local demographic and will now be featuring a dj spinning ranchera, bachata and other Spanish language sounds.  Byrum informed folks on a local listserv that “the summer is always a tough draw and now is a good time to experiment with bringing a more consistent source of revenue to the club. There may still be shows in the future. But I am taking the summer to try new things.” 

At least  the club still exists.  In 2007, it appeared that the rectangular cinder block and brick roadhouse would be sold and knocked down.  This honky-tonk bastion has been located at 4711 Kenilworth Avenue in Hyattsville since 1975, and previously was on Bladensburg Road in Colmar Manor from 1955 to 1975.  But Byrum acquired the place and has been booking local Americana acts and zydeco dances.  While the latter draw a dedicated 40-something and up crowd, they do not drink much.  Meanwhile, the audiences have not grown for DC roots-rock, alt-country, blues, and blues-rock bands.  Compounding things, the club is not located near a Metro station, has been unable to get much media or internet attention for the groups booked, and its older hard drinking blue-collar regulars have moved away.  On July 4th Byrum experimented with a teen reggaeton event featuring Spanish language acts from NY, Boston, and DC, but he says he has no plans to start booking more well-known Latin acts.  He is staying local for now.